Seeking meaning seems a basic urge

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Seeking meaning seems a basic urge

Most scientists carefully avoid the idea that nature has a purpose, at least in their professional lives. But humans are also natural storytellers, and stories often have reasons.

Psychologists at Boston University decided to examine just how deep-seated the impulse to find meaning in nature is. In a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, they found that professional scientists from top universities became more likely to rate statements that found purpose in nature as true when they were put under time pressure, compared with when they were not racing the clock. Deborah Kelemen, a BU associate professor of psychology, reflected on the research, which suggests that even the most reasonable among us may have a default tendency to look for purpose.

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